Brown butter pecan pie bars are the kind of decadent dessert that stops the whole kitchen in its tracks-rich, buttery, gooey, and outrageously Southern in all the right ways.The moment that nutty, toffee-kissed scent hits your kitchen, you'll swear some ancestral Southern auntie just took your hands and whispered, "Baby… this is the one." These bars give you all the gooey, sticky-sweet pecan pie magic without wrestling a single pie crust.
Table of Contents
- 🥰 Is this brown butter pecan pie bar recipe for you?
- 📖 Recipe
- 🧾 Ingredients for these gooey pecan dessert bars
- 🔪 How to make old-fashioned pecan pie bars
- 😱 What can go wrong with these pecan squares
- 👩🏻🍳 Old-fashioned pecan pie bar FAQs
- 🍽 More crowd-pleasing dessert bar recipes
- 🏡 Time to make it your own
- 💬 Comments
🥰 Is this brown butter pecan pie bar recipe for you?
- You want an easy holiday dessert that tastes like you spent all day conjuring caramel magic.
- You love rich, brown-butter flavor and pecan pie filling that firms up into gooey luxury.
- You need a make-ahead dessert that travels well for potlucks, parties, or feeding your favorite chaos gremlins.
- You prefer no-fuss bar desserts over dealing with pie crusts, rolling pins, and emotional turbulence.
- You're craving something buttery, cozy, and crowd-stunning with minimal effort.
Grab the free Brown Butter Pecan Pie Bars cheat sheet and keep all the tips, swaps, and troubleshooting tricks right at your fingertips. It's your pocket-sized guide to gooey perfection-no guesswork, no drama, just buttery bliss every single time.
📖 Recipe
Browned Butter Pecan Pie Bars
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
crust
- 1 cup butter, melted and browned
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
filling
- ½ cup butter, melted and browned
- 1 cup dark corn syrup
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups pecan halves
- ½ teaspoon smoked salt
Instructions
make the crust
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a 13×9-inch pan with parchment or foil, leaving an overhang so you can lift the bars out later. Lightly grease the lining.
Brown the butter.
- Add the butter to a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it turns golden, smells toasty, and the milk solids deepen in color - about 6-8 minutes. Pour into a mixing bowl to stop the cooking.
Mix the crust.
- Whisk in the sugar and salt. Add the flour and stir until everything is evenly moistened. The dough will be soft - that's perfect.
- Press into the pan.
- Pat the crust mixture into an even layer, nudging it into the corners.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- When it comes out, gently tap down any puffed areas so the filling sits evenly.
make the filling
- In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
- Add the pecans.
- Stir in the pecan halves so they're fully coated.
- Pour over the crust.
- Spread into an even layer and sprinkle with smoked salt.
bake the bars
- Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is puffed, set, and no longer jiggles in the center.
- Cool completely.
- Let the pan sit until the bars are fully cooled, then use the parchment overhang to lift the whole slab out. Cut into squares and try not to eat half the pan while "taste testing."
Notes
- Brown the butter deeply but don't let it burn.
- Let the crust rest after par-baking. When you pull the crust out after 15 minutes, gently press down any bubbles.
- Don't cut until the bars are completely cooled or you'll have goo.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🧾 Ingredients for these gooey pecan dessert bars
These ingredients bring all the cozy, caramelized goodness you love in pecan pie, but with a buttery shortbread base that makes the bars sturdy, rich, and downright irresistible. Simple pantry staples, premium flavor payoff, zero crust frustration. Let's gather the good stuff.
- Butter - The golden potion that starts it all. Brown it till it smells like toasted magic.
- Sugar - Sweetness. The kind that melts into caramel dreams.
- Salt - Just a pinch to keep things honest and balance the flavors.
- Flour - The quiet workhorse that holds the shortbread crust together like a scandalous secret.
- Dark corn syrup - The sticky backbone of that classic pecan pie filling. Deep, glossy, and dramatic.
- Brown sugar - Molasses-kissed warmth that turns the filling into desperate desire.
- Eggs - The binders, the stabilizers, the ones who make sure your bars slice clean instead of falling apart like a soap opera marriage.
- Vanilla - Use the good stuff. We're creating luxury, not mediocrity.
- Pecans - Toasted, fancy, and ready to play leading lady in this Southern production.
- Smoked salt - The final flourish. A sultry little exhale that makes the brown butter taste even nuttier and the whole bar feel gourmet. It's our little secret.
🔪 How to make old-fashioned pecan pie bars
Turning these brown butter pecan pie bars into gooey perfection is blissfully simple. No fancy moves, no pastry drama-just a cozy rhythm of melt, mix, pour, and bake until your kitchen smells like Hallmark co-created a candle with Texas.
- Step 1: Mix the crust like you're confronting your past choices. Dump the flour into that warm, nutty brown butter and stir until it looks like wet sand from a beach you absolutely cannot afford but fully intend to manifest.
- Step 2: Press the crust into the pan with righteous fury. Shove that mixture into your parchment-lined dish using the full force of every "I'll just do it myself" moment you've ever lived through. Make it flat. Make it behave.
- Step 3: Whisk the filling like you're stirring gossip. Eggs, sugar, syrup, vanilla-get in there and whisk until smooth. This is the stirring equivalent of leaning over a back fence whispering, "Now don't you dare tell anyone I told you this…"
- Step 4: Pour the pecan chaos over the crust. Add those pecans and dump the whole glossy, sticky mess over your baked crust. It'll look like sugary anarchy. Perfect. That means it's working. Bake as directed in recipe card.
😱 What can go wrong with these pecan squares
- If the butter goes from brown to burnt, the whole thing tastes like regret and overcooked campfire. Pull it when it smells nutty, not smoky. You want it lightly golden brown.
- Underbake the filling and you'll have pecan chaos-gooey in the wrong way, like it's trying to escape the pan. Look for that gentle jiggle in the center, not a full wobble. It will be 200F when an instant read thermometer is poked into the center if it's done.
- Cutting too soon turns those gorgeous bars into a sticky, sugary landslide. Let them cool completely unless you enjoy wrestling dessert with a spatula and losing.
👩🏻🍳 Old-fashioned pecan pie bar FAQs
Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions. More questions? Check out the free kitchen cheat sheet pdf or ask in the comments.
Yes, ma'am. Light corn syrup works in a pinch, but dark gives you that caramel depth and glossy pie-bar magic. Think "whispers of molasses" versus "sweet but forgettable."
Either it didn't bake long enough or the butter browned into oblivion. You want a golden nutty scent from the butter and a firm-but-gentle jiggle from the bars when they come out of the oven.
Absolutely. They're practically designed for it. The filling sets even better overnight, and the flavor gets deeper and richer-like a Southern gossip story aging to perfection. You can even freeze them for up to 3 months.
🍽 More crowd-pleasing dessert bar recipes
If you're the kind of baker who loves a gooey center and a golden crackly top, you'll fall headfirst into my chewy brownie recipe. It's the kind of chocolate situation that makes people swear you've got a secret ingredient hidden under the counter. And if you like your sweets bright and feisty, the lemon chess bars are pure sunshine in dessert form-silky, tangy, and just sassy enough to wake up a whole room.
For something with the same "buttery Southern decadence" energy as these bars, try the maple pecan blondies. They've got that warm, cozy flavor profile that feels like a flannel hug. And if cinnamon-sugar comforts your spirit like a baked good should, the Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars are your next obsession-soft, plush, and dusted like they were kissed by a sugar fairy with attitude.
🏡 Time to make it your own
And there you have it-brown butter pecan pie bars that taste like a holiday miracle and behave like the easiest weeknight dessert you've ever made. Gooey, golden, caramel-kissed perfection without a single pie crust tantrum. These bars are the kind of treat that make people pause mid-bite, look at you, and say, "Lord have mercy… you made this?"
Bake a pan, share a few, keep more for yourself. You're building a life of comfort, creativity, and good flavor-one buttery square at a time.
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